• Introduction
• Course description
• Teaching and examination
• Entry requirements
• How to apply
• Tuition
• Grants
• Visa
• Accomodation
• Social events and excursions
• Organizers
• Contact information

Summer School 2009

Introduction

The Aarhus University Summer School is an intensive short session course designed to meet the needs of students interested in a brief but challenging educational experience during the summer.

Teaching takes place in a multinational environment, which brings together students and staff from different countries in Europe and abroad. This year’s course, ‘Paganism and Christianity in Old Norse Textual Culture’, allows you access to the latest knowledge in the field of Old Norse studies.

It focuses on encounters between paganism and Christianity, and it teaches you how to interpret a literature that was created in learned Christian milieus, but which at the same time displays an immense interest in the pagan past. The course provides you with an excellent opportunity to meet international lecturers and fellow students and to earn credit during the summer.

Facts

Course description

The focus of the course is on the consequences the Conversion of the North had on Old Norse culture and literature. The main objective of the course is to study how the change of religion from paganism to Christianity influenced the world view and notions of the past, and found artistic expression in narrative and poetry.

The material dealt with will be the rich and varied literature that was produced in the North, primarily in Iceland, during the High Middle Ages. This literature comprises both prose and poetry, for instance, the anonymous saga literature, the works of the Icelander Snorri Sturluson, and skaldic and eddic poetry.

Old Norse literature was chiefly written by learned Christians. This, however, did not mean that orally-transmitted memories with roots in pre-Christian culture were excluded from the literature. To the contrary, compared with other contemporary European cultures and in spite of the strong influences from Christianity, the medieval writers were immensely absorbed in the orally transmitted memories of narratives, laws, poetry and pagan religious practice. However, to what extent did paganism live on in Christian times in the North? Why would notions from the pre-Christian past receive such intense interest from the intellectual elite? How, precisely, did the conversion influence the literary representations of Old Norse mythology, traditional poetry and narratives?

The aim of the course is to deal with encounters between the traditional Nordic religion and Christianity, to discuss such encounters from a historical and a literary point of view and to treat the conversion both as a central historical event, a literary motif, and a hermeneutical key point in narratives.  

Teaching and Examination

The course consists of more than 45 hours of classroom instruction. The group of lecturers is Pernille Hermann and Rolf Stavnem, Aarhus University, and Stephen Mitchell, Harvard University, Sverrir Jakobsson, University of Iceland, Jens Peter Schjødt, Aarhus University, Simonetta Battista, University of Copenhagen and Annette Lassen, University of Iceland. In addition, there will be talks presented by guest lecturers. Class attendance is compulsory and students are expected to participate actively in class discussions. Interaction and dialogue between lecturers and students is something we highly encourage.

Before the course starts a reading list will be distributed to all participants. All texts on the reading list should be read as preparation, as they will be included in lectures during the summer school and in class discussions. A CD-ROM containing all texts on the reading list will be available in May and will be sent to those who wish to receive a copy.

Students are assessed on the basis of an oral examination (30 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ preparation). The exam is graded pass/fail. To ensure objectivity and quality all students are examined and graded by a lecturer and a co-examiner. Grading is based on the academic regulations under the auspices of the Board of Studies for the Scandinavian Department. Upon request, and with the permission of both examiners, examinations may be held in one of the Scandinavian languages, otherwise examinations will be in English.

Entry requirements

To be admitted you must be enrolled at a university. If you are applying for admission to the summer school at master’s level, you must hold a bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 180 ECTS in your study programme. Students applying for admission at bachelor’s level must have completed at least one year of study in a relevant subject.

Students are expected to have a high level of English proficiency, to be able to read the relevant literature and follow the teaching. Documentation may be required verifying the student’s proficiency in English at a specified level.

How to apply

All applicants who wish to participate in the Aarhus University Summer School must download and fill out an application form. The application form should be send by post to Tina Friis, Scandinavian Department, Aarhus University, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7, DK-8000 Aarhus C. Please note that you must enclose a copy of your passport and a transcript from the Registrar, a degree diploma or the like to document your level of study. It is also required that you get an authorised representative from your home university to sign a pre-approval of credit transfer, if you wish to have the summer school credited towards your degree.

The deadline for application is 1 April 2009. All applicants will be informed about the admission decision shortly after.

Students admitted to the summer school will receive detailed information about the programme, travel to and from Aarhus, and other practical matters in May 2009.

Tuition

Tuition fees will depend on the status of the summer school towards the student’s original study programme and nationality.
Provided that the student will be able to have the course inserted into his/her original study programme as credit transfer, there is no tuition fee for:

1. Danish, Nordic and EU/EEA students
2. Students from University of Aarhus partner universities who have been nominated by their home university as part of an exchange agreement
3. Students of a foreign nationality holding a permanent residence permit in Denmark

A fee will be charged to:

1. Non-EU/EEA students regardless of a possible credit transfer
2. Other students who will not have the course inserted into their original study programme

The University of Aarhus is currently charging non-EU/EAA students enrolling on a full-time basis as guest students an annual tuition fee of € 9,100 (60 ECTS). A fee of € 1.520 (10 ECTS) or € 2275 (15 ECTS) will be charged to non-EU/EAA students and will cover tuition fees for the summer school regardless of a possible credit transfer.
Danish, Nordic and EU/EAA students who will not have the course inserted into his/her study programme as credit transfer, will be charged a fee of DKK 1,500 (10 ECTS) or DKK 2,250 (15 ECTS) for the summer school.

Grants

Most students can apply for a grant:

Students enrolled at universities in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and the Faroe Islands can apply for a Nordplus mobility grant. The grant is a reimbursement of up to € 800 for travel expenses and accommodation. For the precise amount see www.nordliks.net or contact your local nordliks coordinator or Rolf Stavnem (see contact information below). Students who are nominated to participate in the Aarhus University Summer School will be informed about the application procedures for this type of grant when receiving the admission letter.

1. EU/EAA applicants can apply for an Erasmus grant. To be eligible for this grant, students must enrol on a full-time basis as an exchange student at Aarhus University for a minimum of three months. Please contact your local Erasmus coordinator if you are interested in enrolling for a longer period of study. The application deadlines for Erasmus grants varies from country to country, so make sure to check which deadline applies for you.
2. Students from the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore can apply Aarhus University for a travel grant. The travel grant is a reimbursement of up to € 1,000 for travel expenses to Aarhus. To be eligible for this grant, students must enrol on a full-time basis at Aarhus University for a minimum of three months. Students who are nominated to participate in the Aarhus University Summer School will be informed about the application procedures for this type of grant when receiving the admission letter.

Visa

Nationalities from Nordic countries and EU/EEA countries can enter Denmark without a visa. Nationalities from the following countries are also exempt from visa requirements: 
Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China (only people with passports issued by "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and passports issued by "Região Administrativa Especial de Macao"), Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Uruguay, U.S.A., The Vatican, Venezuela.

See also:
http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/visa/who_needs_visa.htm

Nationalities from all other countries need a visa. Please contact Tina Friis in case you need documentation for your visa application (see contact information below).

You apply for a visa at a Danish mission in your country of origin or the country where you have lived for the last 3 months. In countries where there is no Danish representation, you can apply at the mission of other countries participating in the Schengen visa treaty, who represent Denmark in the country in question. You can get an application form from that consulate or embassy. If you apply at a Danish consulate or embassy, you can also get the application form from the website http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/visa/visa.htm

Accommodation

Aarhus University can provide all applicants off-campus accommodation in a Residence Hall near the beach and the woods, approximately 25 minutes in walking distance from the university. All students will be accommodated in single rooms, presumably each with a private toilet and shower. Quilts/bed sheets are in the rooms but students need to bring their own towels. There is access to a shared kitchen, a garden with barbeque facilities, a TV, washing machine/laundry facilities, a solarium, beach volley and other sports facilities. The rooms are rented on a weekly basis for the costs of approximately 175 euro per week. 

Social events and excursions

A varied programme of social activities will be offered throughout the summer school. All students will be invited to receptions, on a city walk in downtown Aarhus, to a barbeque and on a trip to Moesgaard Museum.
For those who wish to visit some sights outside Aarhus while staying in Denmark we will organize one or more whole day excursions. The excursions will be organized in collaboration with the Harvard Summer School in Scandinavia, which is located at the Scandinavian Department in June and July. More detailed information about this possibility will follow.
Participation in all social events and excursions is optional.

Organizers

The summer school is organized by Pernille Hermann and Rolf Stavnem, Scandinavian Department, Aarhus University. It is organized as part of a jointly devised study programme for graduate students in which nine Nordic universities participate and which is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Contact information

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the International Coordinator Tina Friis, or the organizers and course leaders Pernille Hermann and Rolf Stavnem:

International Coordinator
Tina Friis
Scandinavian Department
Aarhus University
Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7, Building 1467
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Telephone: +45 89 42 54 99
Email: semtina@hum.au.dk

Organizers and course leaders
Pernille Hermann
Scandinavian Department
Aarhus University
Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7, Building 1465
DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Telephone +45 8942 1892
e-mail norph@hum.au.dk

Rolf Stavnem
Scandinavian Department
Aarhus University
Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7, Building 1465
DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Telephone +45 8942 6371
e-mail norrs@hum.au.dk

 

 

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